Teresa Giudice Won’t Be Able to Visit Joe Giudice Before Christmas

Teresa Giudice won’t be able to see husband Joe Giudice this Christmas.

“Joe was recently, right around Thanksgiving, moved to a federal prison in Pennsylvania,” a source said. “It takes about four to six weeks for visitors to be approved, so she will unfortunately not be able to see him before Christmas, but her hope is that immediately after she gets back from her trip, she will be able to see him once her visiting form is approved.”

The couple still speak with each other everyday.

“They speak multiple times a day over the phone,” the source tells PEOPLE. “He’s emailing people all day long. Emails with each of the girls, separately. He is in good spirits and he’s happy and even happier where he is than where he was. This facility is better suited to him … he seems more upbeat since having moved.”

But Teresa won’t be without family this Christmas.

“Her father lives with her,” the source says. “He has been living there since March when the mother died. She’s going to obviously be with the father and the four girls, and they’re going to spend time either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day or the days leading up with Joe’s family and then also the Gorga family. They’ll be bouncing around all together. Then Dec. 26, she’s flying to Punta Cana with the girls. Her father is scheduled to go, but that’s going to be a game time decision based on his health. He was only just recently in the hospital with pneumonia, so they’re going to play it by ear.”

This is going to be a tough Christmas for Teresa, not only because Joe is away.

“This is going to be the first Christmas without Teresa’s mother,” the source says. “For the girls, it’s a Christmas without their father. This is going to be a difficult Christmas for them. So it’s a little bit gloomy, and it’s one of the reasons they wanted to get out, and get a change of scenery and do all that. Hopefully her father is better, too.”